1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of bulk vending machines, and more particularly, to a tamper proof apparatus and method for securely recording and monitoring the sales transactions of bulk vending machines.
2. Related Art and Prior Art Statement
Vending machines and bulk vending machines are known in the art. The term, vending machine, is normally associated with machines which give the customer the opportunity to select from a variety of items such as chips, candy, pretzels, gum, soda and the like. The term, bulk vending machines, in turn, is normally associated with a machine with holds large quantities of a particular product and does not give the customer a choice between the goods to be selected. Both vending machines and bulk vending machines are normally operated with coins.
Bulk vending machines are used for the automatic dispensing of a wide variety of products, such as gum balls, nuts, and candy. These vending machines come in different shapes and sizes. They are typically fitted with a clear glass or plastic compartment which retains the product to be vended. The typical bulk vending machine also has a coin mechanism for the receipt of payment for the product discharged. In operation, the customer places coins into the coin mechanism of the bulk vending machine, turns the handle on the machine, and one or a handful of the items in the machine are dispensed down a chute for receipt by the customer. The vending machine also contains a storage compartment where the coins are retained until retrieval.
Bulk vending machines transact one sale at a time, at a set price. Furthermore, bulk vending machines tend to be stored in remote locations to provide for the sale of merchandise at all hours, without requiring the presence of a sales person. This means that they are subject to vandalism and to tampering by the buyers of the goods dispensed thereby. In addition, someone has to monitor the sales and collect the money. Accordingly, vending companies typically employ individuals called routers, who are responsible not only for periodically restocking the supply of goods, but also for monitoring sales and retrieving the money from the machines.
The process of monitoring inventory, and calculating, tracking and recording the total revenues for each machine in each location is tedious, time-consuming and subject to both human error and fraud. The router has to travel to each location, collect the money from each machine, keep an accurate total of the money collected from each machine, evaluate his inventory of goods for each machine and decide on the amounts necessary to replenish said inventory. The router also has the responsibility of associating the money to a particular machine in a particular location and of doing so in an honest and accurate manner.
Many of the establishments, where the bulk vending machines are placed, receive a percentage of the revenues collected. In these situations, the store manager may supervise the collection of such revenues from the machine. It is not uncommon for the store manager and the router to divert a portion of the money to themselves. Consequently, the vending company is at the mercy of the router and the store manager.
As a partial solution to this problem, some vending machines can be purchased or otherwise equipped with a counter to count vending transactions. The vending company can then compare the accumulated count from the counter with receipts collected by his employees from time to time to ascertain the accuracy with which the employees are collecting and submitting such funds. Such counters however, are usually easily temporarily disconnected by a dishonest individual who wishes to make the vending machine appear to be making fewer sales than in fact it is, thereby allowing him to divert revenues from the hidden sales to himself. Furthermore, such counters are vulnerable to buyer tampering and vandalism particularly in remote area locations.
In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,426 discloses a coin acceptor having first and second members initially spaced apart from one another and frictionally carrying a third member having a coin selectively positioned thereon. Moving the first and second members toward one another causes relative displacement between the third member and the first and second members, which is then compared with a referenced position. Such coin acceptor utilizes sliding friction in order to determine whether a proper coin or coins have been deposited, by comparing the weight of the coins or coins deposited in the vending machine with a referenced standard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,937 discloses an improved coin receiving portion for a bulk vending machine, and a method for operation thereof, for accepting coins of a proper denomination and rejecting coins of other than the proper denomination. The improved coin receiving portion includes a coin wheel having a hub for connecting to a handle for operating the coin receiving portion to dispense bulk product and a first slot in the coin wheel for receiving and retaining therein a coin of a proper denomination and for receiving and expelling therefrom coins of other than the proper denomination through a second slot that passes through at least a portion of the hub.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,346 discloses a means of determining whether a counter has been disconnected, and for preferably responding in a way that will likely induce the individual to reconnect the counter and cease his dishonest activities. Such means includes a coin counter security circuit for use in vending machines having a counter for counting the number of vending transactions. The circuit functions to detect indicia of proper counter operation (and hence that the counter has not been improperly disconnected) and serves to enable the vend transaction when proper counter operation has been so detected. The indicia of proper counter operation can be the detection of a flyback signal normally generated by an inductive element associated with the counter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,713 discloses a monitoring system for monitoring a vending machine at a remote location. Such monitoring system includes an inventory sensing system for providing a continuous update of the inventory in the vending machine, an alarm system to signal when the vending machine is being damaged or the systems in the vending machine are in need of attention, a communication system, and a credit card verification system. The vending machine is coupled to a central computer system which monitors all the systems in the vending machine. The communication system includes a credit card verification system, a two-way communication capability, a display screen, and a printer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,771 discloses an apparatus and method for monitoring inventory in a plurality of coin-operated vending machines. A bar code scanner is used to log inventory into a memory within each vending machine. As merchandise is dispensed, transaction records including the date and time of sale are generated and stored within each vending machine. Denominations of currency tendered by a buyer for each transaction are also stored. At a predetermined time under the control of a processor in cooperation with a real-time calendar-clock within each vending machine, stored information about each vending transaction is transmitted via a cellular telephone interface and modem to a central computer where a statistical analysis of sales for a single vending machine or for predetermined groups of vending machines may be performed. Calls are timed such that no two vending machines are attempting to communicate with the central computer at the same time. Consequently, a single cellular telephone number may be used by all vending machines. Inventory status and change remaining in a vending machine may also be communicated to the central computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,452 discloses a system for managing sales of goods for vending machines. Such system includes a goods control center, a plurality of vending machines, and terminal computers equipped in the respective vending machines. The goods control center includes a host computer for preparing digital data signals as control instructions, and a frequency moderation sub-carrier broadcasting facility as a transmission facility for outputting the digital data signals. Each vending machine has a receiving facility for receiving the digital data signals from the goods control center, and a responding facility. Each terminal computer receives the digital data signals and selectively extracts the digital data as the control instructions necessary for the vending machine to thereby store the digital data necessary for the vending machine in a memory. Each terminal computer controls the vending machine on a basis of the control instructions stored in the memory, obtains goods market information of the vending machine, and outputs the goods market information to the responding facility for reporting the information to the host computer at the goods control center.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,385 (hereinafter “the '385 patent”) discloses a bulk vending machine coin mechanism together with a counter combination. The counter/combination has a coin mechanism designed to be partially received into an opening in the bulk vending machine. The coin mechanism comprises a selectively rotatable shaft extending axially therefrom and a coin counter attached to a portion of said coin mechanism within the opening of the bulk vending machine. The counter, in turn, comprises a numeric display and a contact switch assembly comprising a first pair of spaced-apart wires at a first location of the switch assembly, the first pair of wires connected to the numeric display by a lead wire and to a capacitor by another lead wire, a second pair of spaced-apart wires at a second location of the switch assembly, the second pair of wires connected at least to the capacitor by yet another lead wire, a selectively rotatable element having a metal strip attached thereto, the metal strip able to connect both of the wires of both of the first and second pairs of said spaced-apart wires at separate and distinct positions during the selective rotation of the selectively rotatable element, wherein the shaft causes the selectively rotatable element to rotate bringing the metal strip first in contact with the first pair of spaced-apart wires and then in contact with the second pair of spaced-apart wires, thereby causing the counter to advance one sequential count.
There are many problems with the contact switch assembly of the '385 patent. Just like in all the other prior art the vend is recorded at the initial rotation of the cam when the coin is first inserted. It comprises no validation vend sequence. Furthermore, the capacitor can be charged by means other than the switch contacts alone. In addition, the amount of duration for which the switches are on, and the condition of the wire contacts, can charge the capacitor to different degrees. Thus, by jiggling the cam to touch the wire contacts of the switches more than once will charge the capacitor in increments and cause it to record multiple vends after all. Similarly in the discharge, if the cam is moved quickly such that the contact to the discharge contact wire is absolutely minimal and not complete, the capacitor will continue to be partially charged. Thus when it goes to the next vend, the capacitor might think that it is already charged, i.e. it has a partial charge, and not record the new vend.
It is clear from the patents set forth above, a great amount of prior art has been developed in connection with bulk vending machines and the prevention of fraud during the sales transactions conducted thereby. Some of this prior art has been directed to preventing fraud by the buyer of the goods dispensed by the bulk vending machines and some to preventing fraud by the router maintaining the machines. However, none of this prior art has been able to effectively and simultaneously guarantee both the precision and accuracy of the revenues generated by bulk vending machines and kept in their storage compartment, and the concomitant prevention of both fraud by the buyer of the goods dispensed by the bulk vending device and fraud conducted by the router.